Monday, February 12, 2018

Trump Wants to End Food Stamps And Replace It With a Crony Canned Food Scam

By Robert Wenzel

Don't get too excited about the news that President Trump plans to end food stamps. The money saved from that is not going back to the taxpayer. Nope, the dumb socialist is now going to dictate exactly what food those on the dole will eat.

The Trump administration wants to slash food aid to low-income families and make up the difference with a box of canned goods -- a change that Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney described in a Monday briefing as a "Blue Apron-type program."

"What we do is propose that for folks who are on food stamps, part -- not all, part -- of their benefits come in the actual sort of, and I don't want to steal somebody's copyright, but a Blue Apron-type program where you actually receive the food instead of receive the cash," Mulvaney said. "It lowers the cost to us because we can buy [at wholesale prices] whereas they have to buy it at retail. It also makes sure they're getting nutritious food. So we're pretty excited about that."

The Trump administration proposed cutting food stamps, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, by $17 billion in 2019 and more than $213 billion over the next decade.

[U]nder the Trump proposal, which USDA has dubbed "America’s Harvest Box,” all households receiving more than $90 per month in benefits -- 81 percent of SNAP households overall -- would begin receiving roughly half of their benefits in the form of government-purchased, non-perishable food items.

There is just nothing free market about Trump. He doesn't end programs to push things in a free market direction, he just sets up new interventions that have the potential for even more cronyism.

Yes, but.........it would end the gazillion dollar corruption of folks cashing in their food cards for smokes and booze and such. Of course you are right though that there is nothing free market about Trump.

At the same time he's cutting funding to Meals on Wheels? He continues to prove he's an inconsistent fool and a hypocrite.

Also, he mentioned delivering "canned goods". We'd be better served by teaching folks to cook. I've been on food stamps. Luckily I already knew how to cook. The budget is much better managed with less expensive and more healthy ingredients.

Finally, set menus being forced upon people seems awfully socialist, 'eh?

I guess using EBT to buy Pizzahut and doritos is perfectly fine for some, but I'd prefer those who are on the dole to suffer a bit. Free stuff should not come easy and it should not be exactly what you want, either. I like the idea (look, we don't get what we want here, a libertarian society, but we get to play statist today so that's what I'm doing) of giving recipients a bag a preselected groceries. If they don't like it, get a fucking job. We spend far too much time catering to the lazy people in this country. The homeless in my town ALL have cellphones. Literally ALL of them. They ride around with bikes tricked out in lights, speakers, homemade trailers they use to store their stolen booty, and their EBT card (or Crazy person money, I don't know, I go to work for a living). Nothing warms my heart more than to see a meth'd out old hag buying a massive fountain soda with her EBT card at the liquor store, and using her cash to buy her Pall Malls. I'm sure her kids are eating healthy, delicious food on a regular basis.

An alternate view is that it's better to let the welfare parasites poison themselves with their own poor diet choices. I'd rather Jamal be 100 pounds overweight and have type 2 diabetes when he tries to run from police after robbing a liquor store.